Lost Megabus Driver Crashes Into Bridge While Checking GPS; Four Passengers Killed

Very early Saturday morning, a double-decker Megabus lost on its way to the bus station crashed into a low railroad overpass (pictured) outside of Syracuse, NY. Four passengers were killed, and twenty people injured, including the driver. Now, the public has learned that the driver was looking at his personal GPS unit at the time of the accident–which Megabus drivers are not permitted to use while driving for work.

The clearance is just ten feet, nine inches, and while this bus isn’t the first tall vehicle to hit this overpass, it’s the first known fatality. The passengers killed were sitting toward the front of the top level of the bus. Authorities are now waiting for blood tests on the Megabus driver and an accident reconstruction before deciding whether to press charges against the driver.

I grew up near where this accident happened, and know the area. It’s hard to believe that the bus driver wouldn’t have known about the low bridge. The warnings about the low clearance are numerous, prominent (flashing lights!), and start a few miles back.

This is my hometown. See that big neon strip across the bridge? That was put in place because accidents like this occurred a lot. You can see it faaar way, especially when the sun is right on it. Maybe someday they’ll also put a barrier between the road and Onondaga lake, but it’ll take someone driving into the freezing water for that to happen I guess.

It’d take a heck of a drainage system. Road is already at lake level… lake is about 100 ft from the road. It’d be a puddle 80% of the time, on a curve, in a place that gets a lot of snow… much more dangerous.

Considering this road/bridge was probably around way before vehicles surpassed 10′, there’s not really much to blame the civil engineer for. It is possible with properly designed drainage and retaining walls to lower the roadway to allow for taller vehicles.

To answer TCama’s question, it is easier to dig than raise. Consider what would happen if you raised the bridge. The approaches would have to be raised as well, possibly causing a ripple effect for hundreds of feet away from the bridge, requiring much more construction and work.

They did put signs up, many many of them, and have an alternate route that lets you bypass this road. It’s a very short stretch of road, and its only real function is to let traffic from the nearby village and heading either downtown or to the interstate skip the normal road and its many traffic lights. It’s also a 55mph (45 in winter) zone nestled between 30mph zones, and a source of much road rage and many traffic accidents, despite being 4 lanes and straight. Its non-essentialness is highlighted on Sundays when the road is closed to traffic and opened to recreation use instead (biking, running, rollerblading, etc).

We’ve gone a few years now I believe with no one smashing into the railway overpass, the many signs and glowing neon strip do a pretty good job. The only other measure that could be taken might be cross-road sign of the same height a ways before the overpass, but then when that’s hit it risks falling onto other traffic. As is, when things smash into the overpass they only damage themselves (which historically has been shipping trucks… not passenger busses).

On some of the entrance ramps to the Belt Parkway in NYC there are plastic blocks hanging via chains from an overhead sign indicating maximum height. If your vehicle hits one of the blocks they’ll just swing back into place once you’re through. A system like this would probably help warn drivers that they’re about to own a convertible.

I live in Syracuse, on Tipp Hill. Honestly the bus driver should be charged for negligence or something. Of the multiple overpasses that get hit in and around Syracuse, (like the train bridge down by Rosies/Dennys on West Genny & Erie), this one has sign after flashing sign listing the height requirements and stating NO TRUCKS. It’s absurd every time someone hits any of these things, and now it cost some lives.

I once had to give a Greyhound driver directions around and through Hartford on a Boston/NY trip that went horribly wrong. Experiences like that make me favor GPS units in buses — just in the hands of drivers who won’t neglect to notice a bright orange reflector on a low-clearance bridge.

Even so, there’s no substitute for common sense. Our GPS tells us to do illegal things all the time, because DC is full of roads where the rules (direction-switching lanes, legality of turns, which direction the road is going) change based on the time of day. So we have to employ common sense on our route and see that no, thanks TomTom, I’m sure turning left here *would* be fastest but it would also make us *dead* thanks to the oncoming traffic.

From the description given above, it seems clear (though I’ll acknowledge that a sketchy summary isn’t gospel truth) that the driver was flat-out being negligent about paying attention to his surroundings.

They cut costs wherever they can…to be honest these people should sue Megabus so that this stops in the future. Nothing is going to happen if just the driver is held responsible (although he should be too).

Missed the turnoff for the Charter Oaks Bridge, did he? I was on a bus bringing us from our branch office in Boston down to the company holiday party in southern CT two years ago, and I had to do the same thing for the driver. He flew right by the Rt. 15 left exit figuring he could get on I-91 south on the Hartford side of the river. We ended up navigating through downtown Hartford until we found our way back.

The most dangerous part about trucks hitting this bridge is the angle of the bridge, if you look at the picture, that picture is unaltered, that bridge forces vehicles that hit it to “glide” along the angle and most end up hitting the wall that is on the right, further damaging the vehicle and injuring occupants. sad really cause there are NUMEROUS signs and warnings, and all drivers should know the hieght of the vehicle thay are driving.

Perhaps you hang some bars across the road ahead of the bridge, like they do in parking garages. I think the driver would have realized he had a problem when the first one went wanging off the bus, and the windows cracked.

I agree that probably 90% of all accidents are caused by at least one person not paying attention. And a lot of accidents that could happen because of one unattentive driver are averted by other drivers taking defensive measures.

I also agree that it “not paying attention” might be hard to prove in all cases, but it is easy to determine if someone is using their phone, and in other cases there may be witnesses.

Yes, I would agree to that point if the “not paying attention” were caused by a cell phone or something that could be easy to prove. However, it might be more difficult to prove if it’s caused by someone adjusting his radio.

I’d also agree with allisonann’s point about numerous road signs along the way. I was speaking more generally about it being tough to prove.

The bridge in question has 12 signs, several of which are accompanied by flashing lights, along the path the driver took to get there. It’s nigh on impossible to miss… and if you think you can get a double decker bus under 10’9″ clearance, you probably should be institutionalized.

There’s a low bridge at UVA and a dorm almost right above it. My friend who lived there told me that she’d get woken up from time to time by a serious shudder and a loud thud every time some moron hit the bridge at 2am.

I dont know what’s worse, when someone didnt see the bridge and peeled back their tops or when they saw the bridge but just in time to pass the only turn around. Always had traffic, there. Pissed me off something fierce during high traffic times, but thankfully, no one was ever injured.

Heh, my dad and I had to turn his work truck around in the middle of the street because of that bridge. Perhaps we missed the signs, but by the time you see the sign that we saw of low clearance, you are in a bad place to try and turn around a big truck.

I once rode Megabus from NYC to DC. The driver going to DC was on her cell phone the whole time complaining about the Chinatown bus drivers and the “Chinese boys” being so “damn efficient.” Meanwhile, she ran red lights and even missed a turn because she wasn’t paying attention.

Then, she had the nerve to start arguing with another driver through her window, and even made a point of cussing him out.

I so deeply wish they would lower the price to travel by train. It is RIDICULOUS how expensive it is to get to NYC from Boston. Traveling Friday/returning Monday can run me anywhere from $125 – $250 round trip, and on Mega or Bolt I usually pay $30 or less round trip. So frustrating. I travel to NYC a lot, and hate, hate, hate the bus. Stupid bus.

Great, now all the states will enact laws banning GPS units in vehicles. I can say goodbye to my wife now, I will never see her again.

Instead of writing a new law every time something like this happens, just enforce the distracted driving laws already on the books.

There are laws against using a cell phone without a hands free device and texting (but officer, I was checking my email not texting). What are both of these laws about? Distracted Driving. That applies to the bus driver. He was driving while distracted (playing with the GPS) and caused an accident. He is at fault but we do not need a new law to tell us not to use GPSs, just enforce what exists already

If the driver was in fact looking at his GPS long enough to miss the (apparently numerous) warnings that his bus was too tall, then he should be charged with vehicular manslaughter. The man caused four deaths because he wasn’t looking at the road. This type of behavior will not stop until we sufficiently penalize the offenders.

Where’d you pull that one from, Sparky? You don’t need to be under the influence to be charged with vehicular homicide/manslaughter. All they have to do is prove negligence or that you were performing an unlawful act (playing with your cell phone/gps while the vehicle is in motion, which IS illegal in many states)

That’s apparently been studied… in order to raise the bridge, they’d have to regrade the tracks 6 miles in both directions – which involves at least one other bridge, and a few grade crossings.

Purportedly, the state DOT is planning a more permanent solution by 2015, but aside from no real turnaround once you’re on the road, there really is no excuse for missing 12 signs over the two miles or so before the bridge.

Where’d you pull that one from, Sparky? You don’t need to be under the influence to be charged with vehicular homicide/manslaughter. All they have to do is prove negligence or that you were performing an unlawful act (playing with your cell phone/gps while the vehicle is in motion, which IS illegal in many states)

Just a thought, but why not put a hanging sign supported on a light metal bar about 1/4 mile away from the bridge? If a vehicle is too high it’ll take a nice thwack and probably damage, but surely more less than if they plowed into the bridge and is guaranteed to get the driver’s attention.

I wish I’d thought of saying that. My hubby has a very large pick-up, a Ford F-350 super-duty – which is quite high. There’ve been entrances to a few parking garages that had what you proposed, and it saved him from real damge to the top of the cab. Of course – now he really understands how high his truck is, and doesn’t even try if the signs indicate the garage height is too low.

Dang, I posted the same thing in a comment above, but you did it first. Seems 1 of these hung before you hit the last turn off and one shortly before the bridge would be a great solution. I wouldn’t expect this kind of tragedy to happen often, but saving 1 life would be worth it IMO.

The driver was coming in from the east to Syracuse’s Regional Transportation Center (bus station) missed the exit he’d taken 9 times before, got lost, and was a mile away – heading west away from the Center – when the accident happened.

I agree with others – the simplest safety solution is have a low hanging sign before the bridge. If you hit it then it’s clear you won’t make the bridge.

I live right around the corner, woke up to sirens going off at 2:30ish. Didn’t know what happened until looking at cnycentral later in the day.
There really is no excuse for hitting the bridge, there are signs and flashing lights everywhere. Every now and then a delivery truck or tractor trailer still manage to hit it, but at least in those cases only goods are ruined, not lives.
The bridge is just yards from the lake. No way to lower the road under it, unless you want everyone driving through Onondaga Lake. Maybe replace the bridge with one that can be raised and lowered, with gates that come down to block traffic?
It shouldn’t really need to come to changing the road though. It is very clearly marked, and Old Liverpool Rd is right there running nearly parallel to it. People can blame the road and the bridge all they want for incidents like this, but in reality it just comes down to incompetent drivers.

This low bridge is well known in the area. Driver stated that he had made this trip about 20 times before (without going near the bridge). About 2-3 trucks hit this bridge every year. (May be the best-built bridge in the state). Railroad says it cannot raise the bridge, but why not LOWER the road under it?

Having low bridges like this is asking for trouble. The reason being is that human beings make mistakes. No signage is going to stop this from happening. Yeah, it’s the bus drivers fault for not doing his job but if it’s happening and expected to happen again (it will) then who’s fault is it really? Either make the vehicles shorter or the bridges taller.

A similar accident happened about two years ago in Washington, although there were no fatalities in that accident. The driver didn’t bother to look at signs warning of a low bridge because he was looking at his GPS.

I grew up in Syracuse. The whole area is unsafe; the parkway is old and doesn’t have any dividing barrier. Cars speed by and cross into the oncoming lane… there are tons of accidents every year. The bridge, however, should be of least concern given all of the explicit warning signs…